‘No one wants to pay $25 for breakfast'

 The Guardian - It’s not just eggs that have gone up in price. Coffee is at a 47-year high, driven by climate disruptions in Brazil and Vietnam, the world’s largest producers. The cost of frozen orange juice has nearly doubled since 2020, due to citrus disease and climate shocks. Flour, too, has become more expensive in recent years, with prices spiking in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine...

Experts and restaurateurs say breakfast spots – which often rely on markups made possible by cheap and versatile ingredients, high-volume sales and loyal customers – are particularly vulnerable to these price shocks. The industry’s conventional wisdom that it’s easier to turn a profit with breakfast food may be in jeopardy.

Amy Smith, an economist with the consulting group Advanced Economics Solutions, said the median price increase for popular breakfast items like eggs, coffee, sausage, bacon and orange juice was 19% compared with last year and double 2020 costs.

But restaurants risk alienating customers who are already feeling squeezed by inflation. “Companies that are selling these things don’t have a lot of room to increase prices because consumers are already on edge,” Smith said. “If they’re paying triple or quadruple for a dozen eggs every week and coffee is going up, it’s certainly going to impact the decision to go out for a fancy brunch.”